Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Thursday night that he encouraged his wife, Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, to quietly return to the car when protesters confronted the couple earlier this week, but to his delight she did not listen.

“She ignored my advice and went right up to them and told them what she thought,” McConnell said, laughing, during an interview with Fox News anchor Shannon Bream. “I loved it. It went viral on the internet, and I’ve got one tough wife. I’m proud of her.”

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According to multiple news reports, McConnell and Chao had been attending an event on the Georgetown University campus in Washington when a small group of demonstrators confronted them. The protesters held signs and played audio published by ProPublica that reportedly depicts migrant children who were separated from their parents crying in a detention center.

Chao approached them and tersely said “leave my husband alone.”

The confrontation Tuesday followed a week of public clashes between Trump administration officials and protesters.

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Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen was targeted in a demonstration inside a Washington Mexican restaurant and later had protesters outside her home. White House senior policy adviser Stephen Miller was confronted in a different D.C. Mexican restaurant, and press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders was asked to leave a Virginia establishment.

Emphasizing that he respects free speech, McConnell said it is best to voice opinions in a less confrontational manner.

“Look, I’m a big believer in free speech and sometimes what people say is not great,” he said. “I do think poor behavior is not a great way to convey your views, and I think getting in people’s faces in public places and trying to make them uncomfortable certainly is not a great way to sell your point of view.”